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Obama Feels Our Pain!
While he made $1.8 million last year and was taxed ~ $400,000
same as Presidential Salary
(Julie Pace of the Huffington Post)

President Obama is visiting the West Coast on a three-day tour, speaking with citizens at town meetings and even arranging a meeting at Facebook Headquarters in Palo Alto on Wednesday. There he spoke to a gathering along with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg. He discussed his plans to increase taxes on the rich and both he and Mark shared a moment agreeing that there money will be better spent for taxes to be spent on Americans.
Wednesday night, Obama was at a fundraiser in San Francisco telling his young supporters they were not alone in their frustration.

“There are times when I’ve felt the same way you do. It’s a big, complicated, messy democracy. We knew this wouldn’t be easy.”

After attending another fundraiser on Thursday morning, he will stop in Reno and Los Angeles, before returning home to Washington on Friday. This has been the most extensive traveling he has done since announcing his bid for re-election in 2012, a few weeks ago on April 4th.

Obama’s senior advisor David Plouffe thinks that that the 2012 election will be closer than the 2008 election, and believes that is why the campaign needs to focus again on the young supporters that got him elected in 2008.

While Obama was at Facebook on Wednesday, he attacked the Republicans plans to cut Medicare and Medicaid. Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner has fought back, saying

“What’s radical is piling up $9 trillion more in debt on the backs of our kids and grandkids.”

This statement copies others that believes that Obama’s budget plan will do little to reduce our debt.

Aging movie star, Mickey Rooney filed a restraining order against his stepson on February 16, 2011. (Wikipedia/BBC/CBS) This was in response to Elderly Abuse, and in Mickey’s case, his stepson was abusing Mickey’s funds.

He was also denying him of his basic rights, food and medicine, and took away his ID and his Oscar and Emmy Awards. On March 10, Mickey testified before Congress in support of a bill that would protect the rights of the Elderly.

If the elderly are to be respected and honored as an American Treasure, the government needs to provide better support for them, if the family cannot. Having two 87 old year grandmothers, both of varying mental capabilities and physicals skills, I have an interesting school of thought on older people.

Ruth Quast, is a heavier woman (and has been for almost 40 years), and is now pretty much bed-ridden in an Adult Home in Midland. She has been widowed for nearly 30 years, being able to cope well, but slowly deteriorating. Cecilia Chapin, has been widowed for nearly 12 years, lives in Corunna, and surpassingly gets around much better and coped with her husband’s loss far better than any expected. She is losing her hearing, and had some minor surgeries.

She was born in Australia and raised there until she left in her twenties. This was soon after World War II, and to this day, she still bears a hatred for the Japanese and others who battled with Australia. Ruth has slowly been suffering from dementia or possibly Alzheimer’s, and lost both her older sister, and younger brother to the disease a few years back. They passed within a week of each other and both in the same city of Cincinnati. I obviously know HOW I am going to die, if I last that long! If the elderly are still able to function well enough and contribute to society, than we must respect their existence and dignity.

They should not have an imposed age limit on them, especially as people are living longer. There are cases of older people causing traffic accidents, which helps in the argument for age limit driving licenses. Eventhough I have heard these arguments, I see a clip on CBS Sunday Morning, about a 100 year skier who drives with his wife, in a motorcycle with a sidecar. He has no intention of giving up either any time soon. Today, the working members of the family are “too busy” working, raising the children, etc. to accept the extra burden of an older person living with them. Sometimes, it is simply the lack or room or another reasonable excuse, maybe the older family does not want to burden their younger generation.

“Old” is definitely a relative word. I “feel” old at the age of 29 and being in two 100 level classes. I asked my father, who is 59, and he says “50” is old, and is at one of the healthiest periods of his life. Balding is occurring in my friends who are only 26, and Anderson Cooper who is barely 40 has long had white hair, and I myself long for the day when I show some steaks of silver. These hair styles might usually be associated with aging, but clearly their are other factors in play. Other countries, especially those in the far east, show great respect for their elderly. Some CEOs, and leaders do not become so until they have silver hair.

The saying is: It Takes a Village, to Raise a Child — We put people in homes, because we do not want to care for them — It used to be that the older generation lived in the home and continued to serve a purpose, as large or small as it may be.

Steven Quast
February 9, 2011
PSC 105: TR 5:00-6:15 This was my first current event article for this EXCELLENT class taught by an EXCELLENT professor! Thanks Christine M Bailey of CMU and Ferris State!

Crisis in Egypt Continues

The on-going crisis in Egypt has brought “thousands of state workers and impoverished Egyptians” to strike and protests about their money troubles on Wednesday, February 9, 2011. Meanwhile, the anti-government protesters are expanding their efforts to remove President Hosni Mubarak, despite threats from Vice President Suleiman, who says that he will not tolerated the protests much longer.
According to the recent headline from the Huffington Post, about 8,000 protesters, mostly farmers, placed flaming palm trees up as a barricade to the main highway and railway leading from Asyut into Cairo. They did this to complain of the current bread shortages ravaging the city.
Protestors also attacked the van of the governor of Port Said, Mustafa Abdul Latif, causing him to drive off. His headquarters in the city of Port Said was set ablaze in protest over lack of housing, by local slum dwellers.
Vice President Omar Suleiman had recently tried to increase efforts to discuss reform with the protestors, but they have broken down since the weekend, with protesters being suspicious of Suleiman’s plans for reform. The protesters believe that the plans are superficial and do not promote real democracy, and will not continue talks until the President steps down.
Suleiman also told Egyptian newspaper editors on Tuesday that there could be a “coup” unless the demonstrators agree to enter talks. He also stated that the current government will push forward with their political agenda, despite the ongoing crisis.
American President Obama once again called Saudi King Abdullah to discuss the situation in Egypt. Obama stressed the importance of an orderly transition that is important for the people of Egypt. He also stressed the long-term commitment of peace and security in the Mid-East.